Future in the past
The future seen from a moment in the past: I was going to call you, I knew she would win, we were about to leave.
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Sometimes we stand at a moment in the past and look forward from it. What was still in the future then may be in the past now. English moves each future form one step back: will becomes would, am going to becomes was going to, am about to becomes was about to.
From now | From a moment in the past |
|---|---|
I'll help you. | I knew I would help. |
I'm going to go | I was going to go |
We're about to | We were about to |
I'm meeting her | I was meeting her |
Was going to: a plan or intention in the past
Use was or were going to + verb for something you planned or intended at a past moment. Very often the plan didn't happen, and the rest of the sentence says why.
- I was going to call you, but my phone died.
- We were going to buy a house, but prices went up.
- What were you going to say?
- I wasn't going to tell anyone, but it just came out.
- Incorrect: I will call you yesterday, but I forgot.
- Correct: I was going to call you yesterday, but I forgot.The plan belongs to the past, so am going to moves back to was going to.
As in the present, going to go often becomes just going to + place: We were going to the beach, but it rained.
Was going to can also be a prediction made in the past, from what someone could see: The sky was black. I knew it was going to rain.
Would: the future from a past point of view
After a past verb of thinking or saying (knew, thought, hoped, was sure, promised, said), will usually becomes would.
- When I met her in 2015, I didn't know she would become my wife.
- He promised he would be on time.
- I was sure you'd like this place.
- They hoped the weather would improve.
- Incorrect: I was sure that she will win, but she came second.
- Correct: I was sure that she would win, but she came second.The race is over, and you are describing what you thought before it, so will moves back to would.
If the event is still in the future now, will is also possible: She said she'll call tomorrow. This works the same way as in reported speech.
In stories, would can tell the reader what happened later: He left the village at sixteen. He would never see his parents again.
Was about to: just before something happened
Was about to + verb means that something was going to happen very soon, often when something else stopped it. Just makes it stronger.
- We were about to leave when the phone rang.
- I was just about to say the same thing.
- She was about to give up when she finally found the answer.
- Incorrect: I was about to left when it started raining.
- Correct: I was about to leave when it started raining.About to is followed by the base form of the verb.
Was meeting: an arrangement in the past
The past continuous can describe an arrangement that existed at a past moment, the way the present continuous describes one now.
- I couldn't stay late. I was meeting Anna at eight.
- She went to bed early because she was flying to Rome the next morning.
For a plan or arrangement that didn't happen, was supposed to is also common: The train was supposed to leave at six.
Would or was going to?
For a plan or intention, use was going to. Would is for what someone thought, said or expected would happen. After thought or knew, both are often possible: I thought it would rain and I thought it was going to rain are both natural.
- Incorrect: We would go to the beach yesterday, but it rained.
- Correct: We were going to go to the beach yesterday, but it rained.This was a plan, so use was going to. Would + verb here sounds like a past habit or a condition.
- Incorrect: Last week he said he will finish the report on Monday, and he didn't.
- Correct: Last week he said he would finish the report on Monday, and he didn't.Monday is now in the past, so will must move back to would.
Negatives and questions
Make negatives and questions with was / were and would, as usual.
- I knew he wouldn't come.
- Were you going to tell me?
- Nobody thought the project would take so long.
- We weren't about to give up.
(In the negative, not about to often means "had no intention of": we had no intention of giving up.)